What Is A Brief Summary Of Survival In Auschwitz By Primo Levi

In the memoir Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, the author shows how prisoners in Auschwitz are stripped of their humanity through brutal oppression. Due to the insufferable conditions in the camp, many prisoners are unable to remain compassionate and thoughtful towards others. Humanity is lost when one is completely hopeless, but by resisting against oppression, all is not lost. Despite the horrendous conditions, the prisoners who survive find their will to live by remaining hopeful that there is still good in the world.
Once arrested, the prisoners are exposed to harsh treatment that will succeed in dehumanizing them for the rest of their time in the Lager. Before even entering the camp, the prisoners are referred to as “pieces” loaded

However, his constant suffering makes him lose his sense of humanity. When Levi injures his foot, he is brought to the infirmary where a nurse and Polish prisoner humiliate him; the nurse shows Levi off as if he is “a corpse in an anatomy class” (49). After being reduced to the same status as the dead, Levi feels as if he “had never…undergone an affront worse than this” (49). Levi, like other prisoners, experiences the cruelest conditions imaginable which force him to disregard his own emotions and feelings. Another instance where Levi illustrates the absolute dehumanization of the prisoners is when he describes their routine of “marching like automatons” to the band music. This “monstrous rite” makes the prisoners into robots driven by the music that “takes the place of their wills” (51). They do not have any self-control which is “concrete proof of [the Germans’] victory” in making the prisoners just empty bodies (51). Because of the extent of the suffering placed on the prisoners, they learn to see themselves in the same light that the Germans see them. Levi talks about how usually “the oppressed…unite, if not in resistance, at least in suffering” (91). However, unification is only possible “when oppression does not pass a certain limit” (91). Due to incessant oppression, the prisoners are unable to unify which causes them to lose their

When talking to a fellow prisoner, Steinlauf, Levi learns an extremely valuable lesson. Steinlauf tells him that they need to keep a sense of hope “because the Lager was a great machine to reduce us to beasts, [so] we must not become beasts” (41). Levi also recollects that “one must want to survive, to tell the story” of the awful things that happened in the concentration camps (41). In essence, Steinlauf encourages Levi to not allow the Germans to dehumanize him. One can only be completely dehumanized if one remains complacent with being seen as subhuman. Steinlauf is able to maintain his humanity because he believes in his philosophy that “we must certainly wash our faces without soap in dirty water” (41). This instance really shows how beneficial it can be for the mind of the oppressed when they fight their oppressors. By maintaining some sort of civility, the Germans cannot completely disregard the prisoners’